13 highlights of the Minimalism: Space. Light. Object. exhibition

By Mona Hatoum

Begin your exhibition tour with this massive circular sculpture that contains over 750kg of sand and rotates at a rate of five revolutions per minute. Inspired by Japanese Zen gardens, the artwork mechanises the process of creation and destruction, and is parallel to the enso (the ink circle) which symbolises enlightenment and strength but also the 'nothingness' of the Void.

By Jeremy Sharma

Commissioned by ArtScience Museum specially for the exhibition, this 34.19-minute audio loop consists of a male and female actor reading a script that combines commentaries on colour and the experience of it from Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, Marie Darrieussecq and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Here, Singapore-based multidisciplinary artist Jeremy Sharma explores the relationship between perception, memory and fiction – all minus the visuals.

By Frederik De Wilde

Another commissioned piece, this one requires working closely with NASA scientists. Inspired by Malevich's Black Square painting, the artist used nanotechnology to engineer a material that is deemed to be the 'blackest black' in the world. His carbon nanotube sculptures trap all light at all frequencies, causing viewers to literally look into a void space – the closest to experiencing emptiness.

By Anish Kapoor

Known for luring the viewer into an appreciation of emptiness or the Void, the British sculptor brilliantly places bold, pigmented objects in areas where viewers are likely to be drawn to the space around and between the objects. This causes the viewers to focus on the 'nothingness' between the sculptural elements rather than the sculpture as a whole, as according to Kapoor, "art is about lots of things that are not present."

By Charwei Tsai

A different type of visual art, this looped video showcase is a performative artwork that sees the Taipei-based artist recreating the enso (or ink circle) with one smooth brushstroke on the surface of a block of ice, following the circular structures and forms created by several artists featured in the exhibition. As the ice melts, the ink painting gradually expands and washes away until it leaves no trace. This is acts as a metaphor for the circle of life.

By Olafur Eliasson

Based on the perceptions of light and colour, the Icelandic-Danish artist incorporates a labyrinth of hanging translucent coloured sheets to his installation, inviting visitors to wander through its maze-like spaces and experience layers of colour that change depending on their position inside the installation.

By Zhang Yu

Fusing Western minimalism and Chinese maximilism, the artist stacks sheets of rice paper in a clear, acrylic box in which he then slowly pours ink from a large kettle – in pure performative action. The ink is slowly absorbed by the paper and the process is repeated until the work turns into a black cube which reflects the iconic symbol of Western minimalism – the monochrome geometric.